The invention relates generally to doorways, and more particularly to a device that protects doorways from being damaged, such as during construction and moving.
The invention is a protector for door frames and is particularly useful during construction or moving activities. During construction of a building or home, a contractor is often required to repair door frames which have been damaged during the construction as workers bring equipment and material through the doorway. Door frames are often the most narrow passage in a building or home and any inattention or mistake by the workers can cause the equipment or materials to strike the frame""s jambs or header and cause damage. A similar problem is often present during a move-in or move-out when furniture or other large, heavy objects are moved through a doorway. Similarly, carpet cleaners often need to drag hoses through the house, and these hoses may scratch or otherwise damage the lower portion of the frame. One solution that moving companies have devised is to wrap moving blankets around the door frame and hold them in place with large clamps. However, this approach is awkward, time- and labor-intensive to install, and the clamps may cause damage to the furniture or other objects being moved though the doorway. Furthermore, the direct contact between the blanket and the door frame provides some protection against glancing blows, but provides much less protection against forceful contact which could dent or scratch the frame regardless of the blanket""s presence.
The invention is a protector for door frames and is particularly useful during construction or moving activities. The invented door frame protector comprises a sturdy, yet flexible structure that can provide protection by surrounding a door frame, and that has sufficient rigidity to protect the enclosed door frame from being struck by objects passing through the doorway. Although various shapes and configurations are possible, one configuration that is particularly effective is a slotted cylinder of durable cardboard that has a long slot removed along the entire length of the cylinder. The door frame protector may also be made of plastic or any other suitable material and may include padding at the edges of the slot to prevent scraping the door frame or adjacent wall portions. Furthermore, the door frame protector may be constructed in various sizes to adapt to virtually any size of doorway. Finally, the protector may be easily modified in the field to fit various sized installations by simply cutting the protector to the desired length and/or cutting the slot wider.
In operation, the user flexes the door frame protector apart from its resting, unbiased position to a flexed position to allow the doorjamb or other edge portion of the door frame to pass within the slot. Once the edges of the protector pass around the portion to be enclosed, they spring back to a medium position where they rest against and grip the adjacent wall portions. Preferably, the door frame protector is positioned to create an airspace between the protector and the door frame to further aid in protecting the door frame from damage when objects strike the protector. For maximum protection, a door frame protector may be placed on both jambs and the header of the door frame. Finally, the door frame protector may also be used on a door frame after the door has been hung, provided the door is capable of being opened substantially more than 90xc2x0 from its closed position. To protect both the door and the portion of the jamb which is connected to the door, the user simply opens the door as far as possible and then flexes the protector to fit around both the doorjamb and the door. Alternatively, the user may first cut the slot wider and then flex the protector to fit around the door and doorjamb combination.